Senior media and public relations officer jobs

Location (UK): London / Sheffield
Hours: Full-time, 35 hours, Part-time 28 hours (pro-rata) will be considered
Salary: £43,580.00 per annum (London), £41,504.00 per annum (rest of UK) – pro-rata for part time
Benefits: Read more about the excellent benefits we offer
Contract type: Permanent
Travel: Occasional travel required in line with business requirements
Closing date: 23:59 hours, Thursday 3 September 2026 

Join us and use your skills, knowledge, passion and energy to help us achieve a future free from arthritis.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our busy, ambitious and collaborative Media and PR team and help shape the national conversation around arthritis and musculoskeletal health. Working across a fast-paced and varied news agenda across the UK, you'll develop and deliver proactive media campaigns, respond to breaking news, work closely with people with lived experience to amplify their voices in the media, build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and journalists while securing high-profile coverage that raises awareness, influences decision-makers and supports our campaigning and organisational priorities.

About the role

You'll work closely with policy, research, campaigns and fundraising to tell compelling stories, prepare spokespeople for media opportunities and help position Arthritis UK as the go-to voice on arthritis and musculoskeletal health. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced media professional who enjoys spotting opportunities, working collaboratively and wants to use the power of earned media to make a real difference to the lives of more than 10 million people living with arthritis across the UK.

About you

If your knowledge, skills and experience include the following then we’d love to hear from you:

•    Significant experience of developing and delivering successful media campaigns that secure impactful national, regional and broadcast coverage. 
•    Strong news judgement and the ability to identify and respond quickly to emerging media opportunities. 
•    Experience of building and maintaining effective relationships with journalists across print, broadcast and digital media. 
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience of producing high-quality media materials and briefing spokespeople. 
•    Experience of working in a fast-paced press office or media environment, managing multiple priorities and meeting tight deadlines. 
•    Confidence in handling reactive media enquiries and supporting reputation and issues management. 
•    Experience of monitoring and evaluating media activity, using insight to demonstrate impact and inform future work. 
•    A collaborative approach, with the ability to build strong relationships across teams and work effectively with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
•    A commitment to Arthritis UK's values and a passion for using media to improve the lives of people with arthritis.

*As a hybrid worker the expectation is that you will spend around 40% of your working time in our office spaces or working in community settings. As an inclusive employer we will consider home-based working for anyone where office-based hybrid working would be a barrier to being able to work for us, for example for someone living with a long-term health condition or disability.

We’re looking for a highly skilled individual who will help build on our relationships and networks across Westminster, to deliver ambitious political leadership on a range of issues. The post holder will be responsible for leading advocacy interventions and providing political support to our policy experts, with a focus on Transport and Resources policy.

As a senior political adviser within the politics team, you will also be involved with, and lead on, major projects or themes of work across the political leadership theme (including the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Environment (APPG), which Green Alliance holds the secretariat for), managing and developing key external relationships and supporting the Director of politics as they lead the politics team.

You will need to be an exceptional communicator, adept at bringing people together around a shared vision and have the interpersonal skills to inspire and work across Green Alliance and liaise with our extensive network of partners.

You will be a highly organised, capable multi-tasker with experience managing projects and able to think on your feet, while managing multiple relationships and advocating plans concurrently.

The role entails identifying and leading on opportunities for the UK government to achieve environmental progress and implementing advocacy strategies to secure it. You will have direct access to senior policy makers and environmental leaders, so will need to articulate recommendations succinctly and persuasively.

The role requires excellent understanding of UK political processes (especially in Westminster, parliament and Whitehall) and experience of using it to influence policy effectively. Experience of operating within the system or of working directly with politicians and the media to achieve policy change would be a distinct advantage.

Role Overview:
The Talent Set are delighted to partner with our client on a fantastic Media Officer role. This position involves supporting the charity’s public relations efforts across digital and traditional channels, enhancing their public profile, and inspiring action through impactful media campaigns and engaging content.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist in planning and delivering integrated, digital-first PR campaigns that generate media coverage at national, regional, and digital levels.
• Write and distribute press releases, media briefings, opinion articles, and other communications materials to secure positive media attention.
• Develop and maintain professional relationships with journalists, broadcasters, and media outlets, managing media enquiries and proactively pitching stories.
• Support media activities for campaigns, events, and partnerships to meet shared objectives.
• Collaborate with the Celebrity and Influencer team to maximise opportunities with ambassadors and high-profile supporters across various media platforms.
• Create, film, edit, and publish engaging digital content for platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Monitor media coverage, compile reports, and evaluate campaign effectiveness to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Assist with media visits, interviews, photo calls, and content gathering both in the UK and internationally as needed.
• Contribute to the out-of-hours media support rota and be willing to undertake occasional travel.
• Uphold the charity’s commitments to equity, inclusion, and safeguarding in all activities.

Person Specification:

• Excellent written and verbal skills, capable of producing engaging, accurate media content.
• Experience in a press office, PR agency, communications team, or journalism role.
• Good understanding of the UK media landscape and identifying newsworthy stories.
• Proven ability to create content for digital and social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Experience supporting integrated media campaigns across traditional and digital channels.
• Confidence in building and maintaining relationships with media professionals and external stakeholders.
• Organisational skills to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines.
• Awareness of how media efforts can support fundraising, advocacy, and public engagement strategies.
• A collaborative, proactive attitude with a willingness to learn and develop.
• Commitment to principles of equity, inclusion, and safeguarding.

What’s on Offer:

• Salary: £35,000
• Location: Hybrid - 2 days onsite in London
• Contract: 6 month FTC

How to Apply:
To apply, please submit your CV demonstrating your suitability for this role by clicking the 'apply now' button (please do not apply via email). We aim to get back to all successful candidates within 48 working hours.

Commitment to Diversity
The Talent Set are committed to diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, ensuring equal opportunities for all applicants regardless of race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability, or age. We actively encourage applications from a wide range of backgrounds and are always happy to make reasonable adjustments to ensure a fair recruitment process.

Marketing & PR Manager

About the role

This is a senior role working across the whole Charity, tasked with growing public awareness and support for Clatterbridge Cancer Charity. Leading on marketing, PR, brand and design, this role will manage relations with media, stakeholders, supporters and the wider public, creating and delivering engaging campaigns, generating support for the Charity, demonstrating impact and increasing income generation.

This is an exciting time to join the Charity as it moves to the next stage in its growth. As part of a busy and ambitious team, this role would suit an experienced, proactive and creative individual with a talent for storytelling and a knowledge of data-driven marketing.

You’ll have strong commercial knowledge, with the ability to apply this to the charity sector; adding value to our existing fundraising activities and impact reporting.   

Key responsibilities include:

· Create and deliver a comprehensive marketing & public relations strategy for the Charity to increase levels of awareness, reaching and engaging audiences.

· Build brand awareness, promote income generation and communicate activities and impact.

· Identify, create and maximise media, PR and marketing opportunities for the Charity to achieve strong positive coverage in print, broadcast and online media.

· Utilise the full mix of communications and marketing tools, including media and public relations, internal communications, brand marketing, advertising, campaigns, direct marketing, digital and social media and production of materials.

· Lead and give strategic marketing direction to the Charity team, taking responsibility for all marketing activities within the Charity to ensure consistent messaging.

· Identify and develop key relationships with journalists and influencers across a broad

range of media.

· Lead, manage and plan key Charity marketing and communications initiatives such as the annual Glow Green Night Walk and annual ball.

· Be responsible for brand management, ensuring consistency across all internal and external communications and adherence to brand and corporate identity guidelines.

· Oversee the design, production and dissemination of marketing and communications collateral as required, including annual reports and impact statements.

· Oversee the design and production of all printed materials for Charity events to ensure consistency of brand and messaging.

· Identify and manage outside agencies where necessary to add value to the role and produce, for example, video and photographic content.

· Report to the Chief Executive on impact and coverage.

· Manage crisis communications if necessary.

· Liaise with the Communications team of The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity NHS Foundation Trust to provide a joined-up comms and PR strategy for joint ventures.

· Manage staff within the Marketing and Individual Giving team.

About the Charity

Clatterbridge Cancer Charity is an independent charity, dedicated to supporting patients and research at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre - one of the UK’s leading cancer hospitals.

It’s thanks to our supporters that we can achieve so much for people with cancer across Merseyside and Cheshire, which may not be possible through NHS funding alone.

This includes funding life-saving research to shape cancer care for generations to come, investing in leading technology that drives better outcomes for people with cancer, enhancing the patient environment to support health and wellbeing and enabling innovations in care for every patient, every day.

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Location: Hybrid working with base office at The Spine Building, Paddington Village, Liverpool L7 3FA

Closing Date: 11 September 2026

Interview Date: 24 September 2026
Flexible / hybrid working available

The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is looking to recruit a Communications and Media Officer to join our small and driven team supporting young people aged 8-24, who are living through and beyond cancer.

Use your storytelling, editorial, copywriting and creative skills to help inspire young people to join our lifechanging trips and generate the fundraising support we need so the door is open for more young people to benefit from our adventures.

No sailing experience or knowledge is required, just a passion for applying your talents to make a real difference in young people believing in their brighter future after treatment for cancer.

You might be a graduate journalist, PR account executive, communications assistant, or someone with equivalent experience who is ready to take your next step in a varied and rewarding role with one of the country’s leading young people’s cancer charities.

What you will do

A year-in-the-life of our Largs-based Communications and Media Officer has two distinct parts. October to April - where it’s all about getting the word out there to support fundraising and encouraging young people to sign up for our life-changing adventures. Then it’s the summer - May to September - when the magic happens and you’re around the trips, interviewing young people and telling their stories. You can go sailing on the trips too!

You will be responsible for identifying story opportunities year-round, and writing press releases, media advisories or editorial content to pitch those stories to a range of media outlets, from local newspapers and regional broadcasters to national, charity, marine and other specialist publications, and facilitating inbound requests for interviews or other profile-raising opportunities.

You will serve as our go-to copywriter for print, online and digital marketing materials as well as writing other articles and feature content as requested. This includes responsibility for writing and overseeing the production of our annual in-house publication, Inspire.

You will also work closely with the social media team, gathering (and if you have the experience, producing) multimedia content for our digital and online platforms. There will be wider responsibilities across the communications team too.

Key responsibilities and duties

Copywriting

• All editorial and copy creation (internal and external requirements/requests).
• Organisation-wide marketing collateral process management and copy support.
• Inspire – content planning, writing and overseeing production (Sept-Apr). 
• Trust News (monthly e-newsletter) stories.
• Website – regular news stories and copy updates as required and/or requested.
• Internal copy oversight and/or proofreading, including but not limited to young person onboarding and
  fundraising communications.

Media & PR

• Identifying cross-organisation year-round storytelling and profile-raising opportunities and proactive media outreach (local/regional/specialist/marine).
• Facilitate all inbound interview and other media requests including setting up interviews and briefing
  interviewees.
• Facilitate Largs-based PR and/or experiential requests.
• Media monitoring, recording and reporting (Google Alerts).
• Onclusive PR & media platform – relationship and media list management.

Trip season (all of the above plus...)

• Interviewing young people and seasonal team (volunteers, skippers and trip leads) to gather stories and content for PR and/or social media.
• For Largs-organised trips…
  • photo management (sort, uploading and image tagging)
  • media phone management
  • Social media posts (including photos and/or short-form video) in liaison with the Senior Digital and
    Social Media Lead.
  • Wider Largs team support.

Wider comms function

• Year-round story management including case studies and website updates.
• Campaigns – ideas generation and support with delivery (with comms team)
• Sad News process management – ensuring respectful use of photos/videos.
• Largs office/marina branding – organisation and coordination as required.
• Crisis comms - part of incident response media team.
• Looking for new opportunities/platforms to raise our profile.

As Individual Giving Senior Executive, you'll play a key role in developing and delivering multi-channel campaigns that inspire supporters to continue and deepen their relationship with the Charity. 

You'll manage a varied portfolio of appeals, supporter retention, development, upgrade, cross-sell and reactivation activity, working across channels including direct mail, email and telephone. From campaign planning and creative development through to analysis and reporting, you'll take ownership of projects that help grow supporter loyalty and maximise long-term income.

Working closely with colleagues across the Charity and external agencies, you'll lead on the planning and delivery of campaigns and supporter journeys that place supporters at the heart of everything we do.

This role also includes line management responsibility for an Individual Giving Assistant, making it an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build their leadership experience.

About us

At The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, we raise money to save the lives of people affected by cancer. The funds we raise support world-leading research, state-of-the-art equipment and exceptional patient care at The Royal Marsden, helping deliver breakthroughs that benefit people with cancer across the UK and around the world. 

We're entering an exciting period of growth, with ambitious plans to increase income, grow our supporter base and deliver exceptional supporter experiences. That's why we're looking for a talented Individual Giving fundraiser to join our Supporter Retention & Development team.

About you

We're looking for someone who combines strong direct marketing experience with excellent project management skills and a genuine passion for creating outstanding supporter experiences. 

You will have:

• Experience delivering successful Individual Giving or direct marketing campaigns, ideally focused on supporter retention and development. 
• Strong project management skills, with experience managing multiple campaigns, budgets and deadlines. 
• Confidence analysing campaign performance and using insight to inform future activity and testing. 
• Experience working with databases, data selections and campaign reporting. 
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with experience working with agencies and suppliers. 
• Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities. 

Experience of digital fundraising, mid-value giving or telephone fundraising campaigns would be an advantage, but is not essential. 

Why join us?

This is a fantastic opportunity to develop your fundraising career at one of the UK's leading cancer charities and help The Royal Marsden to revolutionise cancer treatment through groundbreaking research, and deliver world-leading care.

We offer:

• 27 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with service
• Hybrid and flexible working (60% home working)
• Generous pension contributions
• Enhanced maternity and adoption pay
• Life insurance
• Employee assistance programme
• Subsidised canteens
• Access to learning and development opportunities
• A supportive, collaborative and values-led culture 

Our values

We're proud to be Respectful, Kind, Ambitious, Purposeful and Versatile. If you share our values and want to use your fundraising skills to make a meaningful difference to people affected by cancer, we'd love to hear from you. 

Apply today and help us make life-saving breakthroughs happen for people with cancer, now and in the future.

Hours: Full-time

Pay: Up to £42,440 GBP gross per annual (dependent on experience) with additional uplift applicable during deployment.

Duration: Permanent

Location: UK-Med Office, Manchester, UK (hybrid working) with an expectation of approximately 15% international travel/deployment, as required by UK-Med.

Want to put humanitarian crises on the front pages and shape the global conversation when it matters the most?

UK-Med is looking for an exceptional Media Manager to lead our press office and secure high-impact media coverage that brings the realities of humanitarian emergencies to audiences across the UK and beyond. UK-Med is a frontline medical aid charity. Born of the NHS, we’ve been working for over 30 years
towards a world where everyone has the healthcare they need when crises or disasters hit.

In the past 12 months, UK-Med has attracted significant media attention for our emergency responses in Gaza, Ukraine and around the world. Our work has featured as the lead story on BBC News at Six and Ten, across national and regional television and radio, on the front pages of national newspapers, on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, and in leading UK and international media outlets.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our Fundraising & Communications team at a pivotal moment in UK-Med’s growth and reputation as the UK’s official Emergency Medical Team. As Media Manager, you will lead our media relations strategy, build strong relationships with journalists, identify opportunities to raise our profile, and ensure our stories reach the audiences that matter.

This is a high-profile role in a fast-paced, creative team where no two days are the same. You'll thrive under pressure, exercise sound judgement, and respond confidently to breaking news and media enquiries while helping colleagues tell powerful stories from some of the world's most challenging humanitarian crises.

You will lead the Press Office, acting as the first point of contact for media enquiries and ensuring requests are managed quickly, professionally and directed to the appropriate spokesperson.

We're looking for an outstanding communicator with excellent writing skills, a strong understanding of the UK media landscape, and the confidence to advise senior leaders and colleagues at every level on media engagement and reputation.

We offer a competitive salary and benefits along with a friendly working environment and the opportunity to make a real difference through humanitarian work.

How to apply

We strongly recommend that you read the Candidate Information Pack - Media Manager before applying.

To apply, please submit a current CV and a supporting letter (2 pages) through our online jobs portal.

Applications must be submitted no later than Friday 4th of September 2026.

UK-Med is committed to safeguarding of our personnel and beneficiaries and has a zero tolerance approach to sexual exploitation and abuse. We conduct thorough vetting before any appointment is confirmed.

UK-Med is committed to the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion. We strive to provide an inclusive and supportive environment where employees feel respected and supported to be able to fulfil their potential.

We are entering a period of unprecedented opportunity. Advances in treatment, increasing recognition of the condition, and growing awareness of healthcare inequalities provide a unique chance to strengthen our impact and expand our reach across the UK. Our ambition is bold: to engage and support at least 50% of the UK myasthenia community as members within the next five years, creating a movement that is representative, influential and impossible to ignore.

The successful candidate will lead the development of a thriving national community of people affected by myasthenia, ensuring that individuals and families feel connected, represented and empowered. They will transform community insight into meaningful campaigns, influence policy and healthcare decision-making, and position myaware as the authoritative voice for everyone affected by the condition.

Success in this role will be measured not only by influence and campaigning outcomes, but by the growth, engagement and mobilisation of our community. The Director will play a central role in delivering our ambition to reach, engage and retain 50% of the UK's myasthenia population as members and active supporters within five years, creating a change-maker movement that is representative of our goals.

Key Responsibilities

Community Growth and Engagement

• Contribute towards the development and delivery of a comprehensive membership growth strategy aimed at engaging at least 50% of the UK myasthenia community within five years.
• Build a deep understanding of the patient journey and identify opportunities to connect with people from diagnosis onwards.
• Lead the development of services, programmes and engagement approaches that increase membership recruitment, retention and participation.
• Ensure that people affected by myasthenia are at the heart of all organisational decisions, campaigns and strategic priorities.
• Create pathways for members, volunteers, supporters and ambassadors to actively contribute to myaware's work.
• Use data, insight and market intelligence to measure community reach, identify underserved groups and drive continuous improvement.

Campaigning, Policy and Influence

• Develop and implement a national campaigning and influencing strategy focused on awareness, equity of care, access to treatment and service improvement.
• Position myaware as a leading voice within healthcare, policy and rare disease discussions across the UK.
• Build strategic relationships with parliamentarians, government departments, NHS organisations, Integrated Care Boards, NICE, clinicians, researchers, industry partners and allied charities.
• Lead public affairs activity, including consultation responses, parliamentary engagement, policy briefings and stakeholder events.
• Ensure lived experience evidence informs policy development, healthcare decision-making and treatment access discussions.

Organisational Leadership

• Serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team and contribute to organisational strategy and performance.
• Foster a culture of innovation, inclusion, collaboration and measurable impact.
• Work closely with fundraising, communications, partnerships, and service delivery colleagues to maximise organisational reach and effectiveness.

Awareness and Public Engagement

• Increase awareness and understanding of myasthenia among healthcare professionals, policymakers, media and the public.
• Lead initiatives that strengthen myaware's visibility, reputation and influence.
• Support the development of compelling campaigns, media activity and storytelling that inspire engagement and drive action.
• To be the spokesperson for myaware.

What Success Looks Like

Within five years, the postholder will have:

• Led significant growth in membership, progressing towards engaging at least 50% of the UK's myasthenia community.
• Increased participation in surveys, campaigns, events, volunteering and lived-experience activities.
• Established myaware as the recognised national voice for people affected by myasthenia.
• Secured meaningful influence in policy, healthcare and treatment access discussions.
• Generated evidence of improvements in awareness, service delivery, treatment access and patient representation.
• Built a highly engaged and empowered community capable of driving change at local, national and system levels.

Person Specification

Essential Experience

• Significant senior leadership experience within the charity, healthcare, membership, public affairs or advocacy sectors.
• Proven success in growing and engaging communities, memberships, movements or supporter bases at scale.
• Experience developing and delivering campaigning, influencing or public affairs strategies that have achieved measurable outcomes.
• Strong track record of building relationships with senior external stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Experience using data, insight and lived experience to shape organisational priorities and influence strategy.
• Experience leading, motivating and developing high-performing teams.

Essential Knowledge and Skills

• Outstanding strategic thinking and leadership abilities.
• Exceptional communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Strong understanding of community mobilisation, supporter engagement and membership growth.
• Ability to translate complex healthcare and policy issues into compelling public narratives and calls to action.
• Strong analytical and performance management skills.
• Commitment to inclusion, co-production and patient-centred approaches.

Personal Attributes

We are looking for someone who is:

• Ambitious about building one of the UK's most engaged rare disease communities.
• Passionate about amplifying the voices of people with lived experience.
• Collaborative and inspiring.
• Politically astute and credible with senior stakeholders.
• Resilient, innovative and outcomes focused.
• Motivated by creating lasting change for people living with long-term health conditions.

Why Join Us?

myaware is the only charity in the UK dedicated solely to the care and support of people affected by myasthenia. 

This is a rare opportunity to build a community movement capable of transforming lives. You will lead the growth of a national membership community, shape policy and healthcare conversations, and help ensure that every person affected by myasthenia feels informed, supported, represented and connected.

Together, we aim to ensure that within five years, at least half of everyone living with myasthenia in the UK knows, trusts and actively engages with myaware as their community, their advocate and their voice.

We are working hard to raise awareness of myasthenia, as it is a little-known condition. We provide support for people with myasthenia and their families, whilst offering advice and tips for living with the condition. 

We also fund the research that brings us closer to finding a cure as well as funding specialists nurses and advisors. 

Members of myaware have full access to a wide range of support services and events including our specialist benefits and welfare advisor. 

myaware supports people with myasthenia and their families.  We campaign for better medical services for people with myasthenia and work to inform medical professionals. 

The myasthenias are a group of neuromuscular conditions. They are rare but also manageable and can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender or nationality. Myasthenia gravis, ocular myasthenia and Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome are autoimmune conditions whereas congenital myasthenic syndrome is caused by an inherited genetic fault. It is thought that there are approximately 20,000 people currently living with myasthenia in the UK. 

Benefits

• Generous holiday allowance
• Perkbox account (global benefits and rewards platform)
• Group Life Assurance after 6 months of service 
• NEST workplace pension scheme
• Free inhouse staff benefits and welfare advice 
• Investment in your personal and professional development
• Annual salary review

Application instructions

Candidates should submit their CV and tailored covering letter by: 11:30pm on Friday.4th September

Provisional interview dates will be week commencing: 28.9.26

Interviews will be held over Microsoft Teams.

Applications submitted without a tailored cover letter will not be considered.

This post, due to its nature, duties and responsibilities, will be subject to an enhanced check by the DBS. This is funded by myaware.

This organisation supports anonymous recruitment. That means hiding your personal identifying information, removing bias from the hiring process.

The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.

Help us achieve our vision that fewer people die by suicide.

We’re looking for a Senior Media and Communications Lead to deliver and manage our rail suicide prevention campaigns.

In this role you’ll take the lead in managing Samaritans’ communications and media activity relating to rail suicide prevention. You will manage the delivery of our important Small Talk Saves Lives campaign and other targeted awareness campaigns. You’ll also lead on media relations for our rail programme, identifying opportunities to ensure Samaritans’ is visible in relevant media stories.

You will represent Samaritans’ Rail programme at a national level, working with key rail industry stakeholders and programme funders. You’ll also work alongside colleagues across Samaritans, including regional rail colleagues and those within the wider media team.

If you’re a great communicator, with experience of leading campaigns and media activity, we’d love to hear from you.

Contract terms:

• £41,000 - £43,000 per annum, plus benefits

• Permanent

• 35 hours per week (full-time)
• We are passionate about flexible working, talk to us about your preferences
• Hybrid, linked to our Ewell (Surrey) office
• We value meeting in person and working collaboratively. We work in person around 2 days or more per month
• 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays

What you'll be doing:

• Lead on media work for the rail programme across national, regional and local channels
• Lead the delivery of the rail industry suicide prevention plan communications plan
• Manage and deliver the annual Small Talk Saves Lives campaign and any other targeted campaigns
• Research and highlight positive news stories and features, drawing on lived experience
• Identify and secure opportunities to promote help-seeking through the media
• Draft media statements, briefings, press releases and other copy
• Provide expert advice to rail industry stakeholders on media messaging

What you’ll bring:

• Proven experience of leading media activity and securing coverage in media outlets
• Experience developing and implementing communication plans
• Experience managing complex, multi-channel campaigns
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills within a high-profile partnership structure
• A great understanding of UK media, across digital and offline channels
• Great writing, editing and proofreading skills
• An understanding of the rail industry is desirable

For full details, please see the Job Description and Person Specification

Why Samaritans?

At Samaritans, you’ll join a values-led organisation with a powerful mission. You’ll be part of a collaborative and supportive team where your voice matters, your expertise makes a difference, and your work helps save lives.

We offer flexible hybrid working, great benefits, and the chance to make a tangible difference in suicide prevention across the UK and Ireland. To find out more about Samaritans, please read our recruitment brochure.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects the people we support and who support us. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels seen, heard and supported, at all levels of the organisation.

Apply now

If this sounds like the opportunity for you, we’d love for you to apply. You will be asked to answer some short application questions and to upload your CV. If you require adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know.

Applications close: 09:00am on Wednesday 26th August 2026

Interviews: w/c 31st August

At Samaritans, human connection is at the heart of everything we do. 

We do not use AI at any stage during the selection process. Your application will always be carefully reviewed by the recruiting manager or a member of the Talent Attraction Team. 

We kindly ask that you avoid using AI tools to generate your application or interview answers. We want to hear your own ideas, insights, and writing style so your unique strengths can shine through. We recognise that some candidates may use assistive technology or tools to help with accessibility, structure or grammar.

About Us

For over 21 years, The Pickering Cancer Drop-In Centre has offered free, holistic support to anyone in our community affected by cancer through complementary therapies, talking therapies, art, and our supportive community.

In 2025 alone, we had 1,911 individual visits and 1,021 therapy sessions - entirely through the dedication of our volunteer team. We are currently renovating our new centre, and we want to use it to reach further into our community than ever before. This is the first paid role in our history.

About the Role

As our first Executive Director, you will be the single point of accountability between our Board of Trustees and the day-to-day operation of the Centre - working alongside our (voluntary) Centre Manager and (voluntary) Volunteer Manager to support their roles, not duplicate them. You'll lead our strategy delivery, guide the charity's move into its new home, and oversee a service redesign informed by a fresh programme of visitor, volunteer and community research.

About You

You already know how to do this job - you've held a senior, accountable position in a charity or comparable organisation and can bring that experience from day one. You're confident reporting to a board of trustees, comfortable getting things done, and able to win the trust of a highly experienced, long-standing volunteer team through competence and credibility, not authority alone.

Key Activity Areas

• Financial management – budgeting, financial controls, and reporting to the Board and Treasurer

• Governance & best practice – supporting trustees to discharge their statutory duties; maintaining the policy suite and risk register

• HR & people leadership – supporting our entire volunteer and therapist team; communication is key to our volunteers

• Fundraising – write and lead on a fundraising strategy, implement new funding streams and be the ‘face of Pickering’ – local networking will be essential

• Change management – leading the transition to our new centre and evolving service model with care and consultation

• Compliance – safeguarding, health and safety, GDPR, and other regulatory requirements

Qualifications - Desirable

All the below are not necessary qualifications but would assist with this role:

• CIPD qualification, or equivalent hands-on HR experience

• A recognised governance qualification (e.g. Chartered Governance Institute) or completion of a charity leadership programme or similar

• Financial management experience – a qualification would be useful but not essential

• Safeguarding lead training

Experience and Competencies — Essential

• Senior leadership experience with genuine authority and accountability in a charity or comparable mission-led organisation

• A track record of reporting to and working with a board of trustees or non-executive directors

• A track record of leading organisational change, with evidence it was genuinely adopted

• Sound financial literacy - budgets, management accounts, financial controls, dealing with auditors

• Working knowledge of safeguarding, risk management and regulatory compliance

• Excellent written and verbal communication, including board-level reporting as well as the ability to speak in public

• Experience making a leadership role pay for itself, through income generation, cost savings, or both

• A genuine, demonstrable commitment to Pickering's mission

Experience and Competencies — Desirable

• Fundraising experience across grants, trusts, community fundraising and corporate partnerships

• Experience within the cancer support, wider healthcare, or hospice sector

• Lived experience of cancer, personally or through supporting someone close to you

• Experience leading a refresh of a brand or a rebrand, service redesign, or physical relocation of services

• Familiarity with Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding local community

Safeguarding

This role involves working with adults who may be vulnerable by virtue of serious illness. The successful candidate will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory reference checks before appointment, and will act as, or oversee, the charity's designated safeguarding lead.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Pickering is committed to equal opportunity for all and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. A copy of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy is available on request.

How to Apply

Please apply by Sunday 6 September 2026. Interviews are expected to take place w/c 14 September 2026.

This role leads two of the most consequential shifts in our 2026–2028 strategy. First, our move from a narrative-based to an evidence-based organisation: designing our impact measurement framework, leading the rollout and adoption of the Impact Hub (our custom CRM and data platform), and embedding data-driven decision-making across every team. Second, the community around our programmes: the trusted community and education referral partnerships that bring young people to us, and the structured alumni community that keeps them connected, supported and contributing after they complete our programmes.

WHAT YOU OWN

• Impact framework : the organisation's impact measurement framework, metrics and indicators.

• The Impact Hub (CRM) : the platform, its roadmap, adoption and supplier relationship.

• Data governance : data quality standards, validation protocols and UK GDPR compliance.

• Evaluation methodology : how programmes and services are evaluated, including external evaluation partnerships.

• Referral partnerships : the community and education referral partnership model and its members.

• Alumni strategy : the alumni engagement model, tiered support structure and Advisory Council.

• Organisational reporting : impact reporting to the board, funders and the public.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Impact Measurement & Evidence ~ Develop and own the organisation's impact measurement framework, defining metrics and indicators that reflect outcomes and effectiveness rather than interest or activity alone.

2. Organisational Insight & Foresight ~ Act as the organisation's insight lead: translate quantitative and qualitative data into organisational insight that shapes strategy, programme design and resource allocation.

3. The Impact Hub ~ Lead the delivery, rollout and adoption of the Impact Hub, including migration from Upshot, in line with the phased plan in the Data & Digital strategy : and own its roadmap as the organisation's insight platform thereafter.

4. Stakeholder Engagement Framework (Governance) ~ Act as guardian of the unified stakeholder engagement framework, defining the standards, data capture requirements and reporting consistency that all teams apply across our five stakeholder groups.

5. Community & Education Partnerships (Referral Pipeline) ~ Design and deliver the structured referral partnership model set out in the Talent & Engagement strategy, piloting quarterly cohorts of university, faith-group and community-organisation partners with clear MOUs, shared objectives and referral tracking through the Impact Hub.

6. Alumni Community & Engagement ~ Design and deliver a structured 12-month alumni engagement calendar with audience-segmented communications, supported by Impact Hub data.

7. Reporting & Funder Evidence ~ Produce evidence-based impact reporting for the board, funders, partners and public communications, supporting grant bids, corporate stewardship and the annual report.

8. Team Leadership ~ Line-manage the Data Administrator, Progression coaches and any future team members, providing guidance, training and performance oversight.

9. Organisational Leadership ~ Contribute to organisational strategy, annual planning and budgeting as a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Read the full Job Description attached to see the full Key repsonsibilites, Person specification and 12 month success metrics.

Senior Recruitment Consultant (Manager fast-track)

Location

Preston

Length of contract

Full time and permanent

Hours

37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday

To be worked between 8am and 6pm (inc 30-minute unpaid lunchbreak)

Pay Scale

£34,000 per annum plus on target bonus

Responsible to

Operations Director

Holiday entitlement

Paid holiday entitlement of 28 days, plus 8 bank holidays

Plus a day’s leave on your birthday, plus a wellbeing day’s leave

The Role

The purpose of the role is to win vacancies and place ex-offender candidates into sustainable paid employment with local employers. Working towards a promotion to Manager within 6 months, you will then also provide leadership to the Preston office team, being responsible for the management and Recruitment Consultant responsibilities for 70% of your role.

Purpose

We place people with convictions into paid work, so they can build purposeful lives and see their families thrive

Mission

We do this by providing practical employment support, linking them to companies with good jobs

Vision

A  society  where  people’s  past  convictions  don’t  define  their  employment future

Duties and Tasks

There are four main areas of work, all of which are vital to achieving the key positive outcome for the individuals we support: sustained meaningful employment.

1. New Employer Engagement

Expanding our network of employers to generate a regular flow of job opportunities, allowing us to place our candidates into work.

This will require new business development and excellent ongoing relationship management. You will identify which jobs are most sought after by our typical candidates and which are more specialist or occasional opportunities. Equally, you will gravitate towards employers who demonstrate agility and responsiveness in their hiring processes. Your client contacts are more likely to be business owners, divisional managers and site supervisors than social value or EDI teams.

You will:

• Proactively approach local employers who are advertising paid jobs that could suit current candidates on our books, for example through online searching using keywords for skills and industry sectors, sending over candidate details with the goal of obtaining recruitment instructions and securing interviews.
• Speculatively approach organisations that are not currently recruiting but are likely to have suitable vacancies in the future that match the typical skillsets of our candidates.
• Maintain a follow-up database of active and prospective clients and take ownership of industry sectors or geographical areas, in consultation with colleagues, to avoid duplication and maximise reach.
• Visit employers to explain our services, answer questions around protocols for interviewing or hiring ex-offenders and gain a clear understanding of the workplace environment, travel routes and employer requirements.
• Select and submit candidates who you consider suitable for vacancies, advocating for each individual based on your knowledge of them, their references, and the positive changes and efforts you have witnessed.
• Be prepared to positively challenge employer assumptions where you believe reluctance to consider a candidate is unfounded.
• Disclose the candidate’s offending history and risk profile, emphasising their personal attributes and work strengths.
• Guide employers through the interview and hiring process in close consultation with the candidate.

2. Job Finder Support

Interviewing ex-offenders, offering one-to-one job coaching to help them into work and providing ongoing mentoring during their first 12 months of employment.

Ours is a face-to-face, holistic and wraparound service that culminates in our candidates finding good jobs that last, with a wide array of socially inclusive employers. Our job finder support can begin in custody and continue through the gate into the community, or start within the community. Typically, we work with an individual for between one and three months to establish work readiness and continue supporting them for up to a year after they secure employment. Many people remain in touch and return to us for subsequent jobs over a period of years, and we consider our door to always be open.

You will:

• Conduct one-to-one assessments with job-seeking candidates and, using your professional judgement, either accept them directly into our paid-work search services or refer them to partner organisations for pre-employability support where barriers such as substance misuse or homelessness remain significant.
• Work with candidates over several weeks and months as a job mentor, meeting regularly to support all aspects of their job search.
• Help craft effective CVs and disclosure letters, ensuring candidates understand the facts and disclosure obligations relating to their spent and unspent convictions.
• Check that candidates have the correct Right to Work documentation and arrange replacement birth certificates and National Insurance letters where required.
• Book candidates onto relevant third-party training courses, including CSCS cards, HGV driver training and renewable energy qualifications.
• Encourage candidates’ own job search activity, including teaching them how to use online job boards and supporting them to complete online application forms.
• Submit candidates for opportunities available through our network of inclusive employers and proactively seek additional vacancies on their behalf.
• Organise interviews, ensuring candidates have the means to travel and appropriate interview clothing, providing support where required.
• Follow up after interviews, helping candidates manage expectations, process outcomes and rebuild confidence where applications have been unsuccessful.
• Confirm job starts with both candidate and employer, ensuring candidates have access to any required workwear and support with travel-to-work costs.
• Provide practical support where needed, including food parcels, hygiene packs, pre-loaded SIM cards, clothing and utility top-ups.

In-Work Support

After employment begins, there can often be unforeseen challenges facing newly employed candidates, particularly recent prison leavers. These may be practical, emotional or lifestyle-related. The strongest opportunity to advocate for a candidate and help sustain employment comes from having built trusted relationships with both the individual and their employer.

You will:

• Advise employers on successfully onboarding new employees during their first few weeks and months in work.
• Help employers understand and accommodate any additional support needs, such as housing transitions, medical requirements or probation appointments.
• Be aware of and navigate any negative Google or media reporting about a candidate’s previous offending, including advising on measures to protect privacy and reputation where appropriate.
• Remain in regular contact with candidates during their first 12 months in employment through check-in calls and meetings.
• Record all candidate and employer interactions and outcome reporting on the Itris recruitment CRM database.

3. Management of the Preston Team (Within Six Months)

You will:

• Line manage and develop the Preston office’s Recruitment Consultants, Trainee Recruitment Consultants and Resourcer, leading by example across business development and candidate support activities.
• Run the Preston office efficiently and effectively, ensuring the charity can carry out its work and, alongside the Operations Director, help develop, agree and implement business, operational and annual plans.
• Identify appropriate methods for monitoring office performance and report regularly to the Operations Director on performance against business, operational and annual plans and budget expectations.
• Ensure the office is aware of best practice and consistently works to achieve this within the constraints set by the Trustees and available resources.
• Facilitate regular group clinical supervision sessions for yourself and all team members.

4. External and Internal Relations

You will:

• Maintain and extend a network of referral partners who can direct candidates to us for job finder support, including charities, Jobcentres, probation services and police teams.
• Cultivate these relationships through regular visits, communication and updates.
• Assist in developing the charity’s local public profile and foster positive relationships with government, statutory, voluntary, private sector and other external stakeholders.
• Monitor changes in the external environment that may affect the charity, proactively advising the Operations Director and taking appropriate action where necessary.

This is a non-exhaustive list of tasks and may be amended from time to time in line with the needs of the charity.

Our Interview Process

This vacancy will close on 6th September, with applications being shortlisted on 7th September.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend the first stage of our interview process on Tuesday 8th September, between 4:30pm and 7pm, at our new offices in Preston.

We want our recruitment process to give you the opportunity to get to know The Recruitment Junction (TRJ) just as much as it allows us to get to know you.

The evening will begin with an introduction to TRJ from our CEO and Senior Leadership Team, giving you the opportunity to hear more about who we are, our values. the work we do and what it is like to be part of our team. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions in an open audience environment, allowing you to find out more about TRJ, our work and our organisation. Refreshments will also be provided.

You will then have a short, informal, face-to-face conversation with one of our hiring managers. This is designed to be a relaxed opportunity for us to learn a little more about you, while also giving you the chance to ask questions and decide whether TRJ is somewhere you would like to continue pursuing a career.

Following the first-stage event, we will invite successful candidates for a formal final interview.

Key dates:

• Applications close: 6th September
• Shortlisting: 7th September
• Stage One – Recruitment Evening: Tuesday 8th September, 4:30-7pm
• Stage Two – Formal Final Interview: Wednesday 16th September – time to be confirmed

We hope this approach creates a welcoming and informal first stage, giving you a genuine opportunity to learn more about TRJ, meet members of our team and decide whether we are a fit for each other.

ABOUT CHEFS IN SCHOOLS

Chefs in Schools exists to improve children’s health and futures through better school food and meaningful food education.

We work alongside schools and catering teams to transform what children eat every day, particularly in communities facing the greatest barriers to good health. We combine practical support, training, operational expertise and sector influence to help schools serve fresh, nutritious food that children want to eat.

We’re backed by some of the biggest names in food and are ambitious about both impact and scale. We want every child to have access to excellent school food and a real food education, regardless of background.

We are a values-led organisation - bold, honest, collaborative, innovative and focused on solutions.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

You will lead the delivery of Chefs in Schools External Affairs function, ultimately ensuring there is widespread recognition that poor quality school food is unacceptable. Through integrated media, digital and advocacy work, you’ll ensure quality school food is viewed as a vital tool for healthy development and food literacy. 

You will turn strategic direction into coordinated delivery, leading a multidisciplinary team that increases our influence, strengthens our reputation and helps achieve meaningful improvements in school food.

Working closely with External Affairs colleagues and Chief Executive, you will ensure our public profile, policy influence and media work reinforce one another, while creating the management capacity required for a growing organisation. This builds on the new functional structure where media and content, policy and campaigns, and the School Food Review programme all sit within External Affairs.

We want Chefs in Schools to become the most trusted and recognisable voice in the conversation around school food and food literacy. This role will play a central part in building that influence and recognition.

We are looking for somebody who understands that influence is built through consistency, credibility, creativity and cultural relevance as much as through formal communications activity alone. 

WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

Leadership

• Lead the day-to-day operation of the External Affairs team.

• Translate organisational strategy into clear plans and objectives.

• Ensure media, content creation, campaigns, policy and coalition activity reinforce one another.

• Set priorities and allocate resources across competing work.

• Develop team capability through coaching, support and performance management.

• Contribute to organisational strategy and annual planning.

• Advise on reputational opportunities and risks.

• Ensure innovation is embedded at the heart of our work and approach.

• Deputise at SLT level where appropriate.

• Represent the organisation externally.

• Build a collaborative, ambitious, solutions-focused culture.

Operational planning

• Develop and oversee the annual External Affairs plan in line with strategy.

• Coordinate campaign calendars, policy priorities, publications and media moments.

• Ensure external activity supports fundraising, programmes and partnerships.

• Monitor delivery against KPIs and adjust plans where required.

Campaigns and public engagement

• Provide strategic oversight of policy development and campaigning.

• Challenge and refine policy recommendations before publication.

• Ensure campaigns are evidence-led and aligned with organisational strategy.

• Support relationships with government, sector leaders and coalition partners.

• Build strong relationships with media, MPs, councillors and key stakeholders.

Media & communications

• Oversee media strategy and organisational messaging.

• Ensure consistency across press, social media, website, publications and events.

• Identify media moments and hard hitting stories that will hit the headlines. 

• Sign off major messaging and communications.

• Lead communications planning around major announcements or crises.

School Food Review 

• Provide strategic oversight of the School Food Review programme.

• Ensure coalition work complements Chefs in Schools wider influencing strategy.

• Support senior relationships with coalition partners and funders.

• Remove barriers to delivery for the Programme Manager.

Budget & governance

• Manage the External Affairs budget.

• Ensure safeguarding, risk management and governance requirements are met.

• Oversee procurement of agencies and consultants.

ABOUT YOU

Essential experience and skills

• Significant senior leadership experience across media relations, campaigns, policy or public affairs.

• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams.

• Strong operational planning skills.

• Excellent political judgement.

• Experience influencing senior stakeholders.

• Outstanding written and verbal communication.

• Strong project and budget management.

• Comfortable balancing long-term strategy with fast-paced reactive work.

• Strong understanding of the UK media landscape and digital channels. 

• Excellent communication skills – written, verbal and visual. 

• Experience of working with MPs and other key stakeholders.

• Strong alignment with the mission and values of Chefs in Schools.

Desirable

• Education, food systems or public health experience.

• Coalition leadership.

• Charity senior management.

• Experience working with ministers, journalists and on national campaigns.

OUR COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION

We know that strong candidates may not meet every single requirement listed in this job description.

If this role excites you and you believe you could make a strong contribution to our mission, we would encourage you to apply.

We are committed to building a diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation where people from different backgrounds, experiences and communities can thrive.

About us

Carers UK is the leading national charity for unpaid carers. Our support, advice, information and campaigning work are needed now more than ever, with unpaid carers providing more hours of care than ever before, which is adversely impacting on their finances, health and wellbeing. We exist to make life better for carers and bring about lasting change.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join a small, high performing team. This varied role sits at the heart of the policy and campaigns team, working in the policy detail to support key campaigns as well as media functions, including lots of interaction with supporters and carers. The role plays a vital part in delivering the charity’s core aims to make life better for carers. Working closely with our communications team, this role spans across media, policy, public affairs and campaigns.

About you

Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment? Do you have media or campaigns work experience? Do you want to make life better for unpaid carers? Then this could be the ideal role for you!

We’re looking for a diligent and organised individual, who has an eye for details and the ability to juggle a varied workload. Collaborative in approach, you’ll have exceptional written communication skills and an interest in media and policy.

Diversity and inclusion

Carers UK is committed to becoming a diverse and truly inclusive organisation; fostering an environment and working culture that celebrates and promotes diversity and inclusion.  We strive to create a workplace where our colleagues and volunteers can truly be themselves and feel like they belong and constantly seek to ensure all voices are heard.

To embrace this culture of diversity, our employee and volunteer recruitment should reflect our stakeholders and the society that we serve and support, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, physical abilities, disabilities or religious practices. We value individual diversity and are actively building diverse teams here at Carers UK and value our colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds.

As a membership charity for carers, we particularly seek employees and volunteers with a real understanding of the issues faced by carers. Reasonable adjustments can be made to the process and role, dependent on the needs of the applicant.

We are proud to be an Employers for Carers member. We have signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge and achieved the Disability Confident Employer accreditation. We aim to offer interviews to those who have a disability covered under the definition outlined in the Equality Act 2010 and who meet the minimum criteria for the role. The minimum criteria can be found under the Essential section of the Person Specification of the recruitment pack. Please let us know if your application is being made under the Disability Confident Scheme. You are not required to share the nature of your disability or long term health condition. You will need to state in your email application that you are making your application under the Disability Confident Scheme as you consider yourself to be disabled, or as having a disability. If you meet the minimum criteria then you will be offered an interview.

At Carers UK we want our application process to be as accessible as possible. If you need any adjustments to apply please contact us to discuss.  

The closing date for applications is 5pm, Tuesday 22 September.

Carers UK anonymises all applications prior to shortlisting.

Carers UK reserves the right to appoint at any stage, should an outstanding candidate emerge.

There will be a two stage interview process

Carers UK may carry out online and social media checks before a formal offer is made.